-Hindustan Times A dominant feature of the first year of Narendra Modi's leadership is the quiet dismantling of India's imperfectly realised framework of welfare and rights, covertly, by stealth.   A declared pro-corporate agenda, such as the land acquisition ordinance, proved politically messy and costly. Therefore, the government resorted instead for an enfeebling of the welfare architecture of the country through a combination of fiscal withdrawals, ignoring even legally mandated obligations.   But this attracted...

-The Hindu Business Line Agriculture development and food security form the foundation of manufacturing growth. Modi must realise this Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation ‘Make in India’ would make perfect sense till we realise that by ‘making’ he means manufacturing. But could it be that his focus on manufacturing may come a cropper if we do not ensure that agriculture is placed permanently on a sound footing? The history of the great...

-Outlook Bhubaneswar: A day after laying foundation for a new medical college in tribal dominated Mayurbhanj district, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said a special scheme will be launched to reduce MMR and IMR in Odisha. "A special initiative for reduction of IMR and MMR in difficult areas of the state will be rolled out with budget of Rs 50 crore annually," Patnaik told reporters after chairing the annual meeting of the...

-Reuters NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes one year in office, his cuts in federal welfare spending on the poorest of India's 1.25 billion people are coming in for sharp criticism, including from within his cabinet. In a break with India's socialist past, Modi has saved money on federal social and subsidy expenditure and pumped it into an infrastructure stimulus he hopes will trigger a spurt in economic growth. The government...

Due to the annual decline in under-5 mortality rate by almost 7% during 2008-13, the Government is hopeful of India attaining the target 5 of Millennium Development Goal-4 i.e. reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the U5MR. This has been revealed in a press release on checking child mortality rate by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, dated 28 April, 2015.   However, experts think that this will be...